What was the MOST ridiculous thing a patient came to the ER for?

And did you have to treat them?

I am just curious. Your stories always seem to either crack me up or shake my head in amazement.

Thanks for sharing ?

Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

Had one come in with the chief c/o "Fear of Flying", by EMS yet. He had a flight the next morning and didnt want to wait at triage.

I just found this board, and I'm LMAO at these stories! I haven't worked in an ER yet (new student) so now I can see what I have to look forward to!

Ok...sharing a stupid story about myself:

One night my son (6) woke up SCREAMING (he's usually a good sleeper so I knew something was wrong).

I made him get up thinking it might be a cramp or something...but he just keeled over in pain and screamed "My stomach! Please take me to the doctor mommy". All I could think was his appendix burst.

My husband stayed w/ the other kids, and I sped to the hospital with him screaming in the backseat.

I carried him into the ER and they took us back right away b/c he was screaming so loud and they saw me struggling to carry him, so it was obvious he couldn't walk. Triage took quick vitals and sent us back to the dr right away. The doctor felt his belly and sent him for Xray (he's still screaming mind you).

He calmed down a bit for X ray, and after we got it back we saw that he was just backed up w/ POOP!

The kid was constipated! :madface:

I was horrified. The staff was nice though, they just laughed and had this "what can you do" type of attitude. The doctor did ask though why I hadn't noticed he hadn't pooped in a few days.

???? The kid is 6! He's in school all day, I don't check the toilet after he goes anymore. Geesh.

Anyway... a little Colace did the trick!

I felt like an idiot!

just last week, in the middle of a tornado warning, we had someone come in to the er, by ambulance because, they had to poop, but couldnt get it out! it's right there they said, i just can't get it out. this poor patient paid near $1,000.00 to get "dug out" by a nurse.:rolleyes:

How 'bout this...

I had just assumed my 5 bed assignment and and was given a "Lady Of The Night" with a roach in her ear. She had just been brought in by the local EMS guys... That's not the sad part. After removing the roach, teaching how to avoid having this happen again, suggesting changing motels for doing biz (once this happens, it's a good idea to try a different place), and her written instructions, she returns about 3 or 4 hours later by ambulance from the same motel with another roach in the same ear...

I guess they had set up a nest, LOL. Old habits die hard.

Specializes in Home Health and Hospice.

I know 11yrs ago in rural Ohio when I was on medicaid the only place that I could be seen for minor acute things such as strep throat was the ER otherwise I had to wait a month for an appt as they where no longer taking "new" pts and no walk-in clinic. In otherwords once they heard medicaid they didn't want the hassle. So where else are you to go? I would try like hell to wait out anything I had because it was embarrassing to go for something I should be at a clinic for.

Specializes in ER, PEDS, CASE MANAGEMENT.

OMG! You are soooo right about that one!!!!

Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
we had a phone call which begged us to take care of a dog who was hit by a car. the man pleaded that there was no where else to go and believe me, we really wanted to help him--how do you intubate lassie? s experience?

ok, but only because you asked...... :wink2: intubating a dog is actually a whole lot easier than intubating a person. it takes two and maybe a flashlinght, but you can usually get away without a scope (unless it is a flat-faced dog like a pug). all you really need to do is pull the tongue way out. you can usually see the epiglottis at that point, and i can usually manage to push it aside with the tube while i'm inserting it.

(and fyi, intubating cats is even easier.............)

Specializes in Med/Surg, ER and ICU!!!.
I just found this board, and I'm LMAO at these stories! I haven't worked in an ER yet (new student) so now I can see what I have to look forward to!

Ok...sharing a stupid story about myself:

One night my son (6) woke up SCREAMING (he's usually a good sleeper so I knew something was wrong).

I made him get up thinking it might be a cramp or something...but he just keeled over in pain and screamed "My stomach! Please take me to the doctor mommy". All I could think was his appendix burst.

My husband stayed w/ the other kids, and I sped to the hospital with him screaming in the backseat.

I carried him into the ER and they took us back right away b/c he was screaming so loud and they saw me struggling to carry him, so it was obvious he couldn't walk. Triage took quick vitals and sent us back to the dr right away. The doctor felt his belly and sent him for Xray (he's still screaming mind you).

He calmed down a bit for X ray, and after we got it back we saw that he was just backed up w/ POOP!

The kid was constipated! :madface:

I was horrified. The staff was nice though, they just laughed and had this "what can you do" type of attitude. The doctor did ask though why I hadn't noticed he hadn't pooped in a few days.

???? The kid is 6! He's in school all day, I don't check the toilet after he goes anymore. Geesh.

Anyway... a little Colace did the trick!

I felt like an idiot!

Don't feel to bad. The same thing happened to me. He was about 6 also. The Dr. Was awesome, and even gave Dommenyque the X-ray. He has it hanging on his wall. Uggg.

hi everyone, i just found this forum and i'm glad i did. about 10 yrs. ago my future daughter-in-law came to me in tears because the condom my son and she used was nowhere to be found. i tried not to laugh and reassured her, had her do a good vag check and told her to go back to bed. i sure did. but noo, off they went to our local er. never found of couse but a good laugh for er nurses. in conclusion, my kids feel it must have fallen into a knothole in the floor of our old house! i'm still chuckling over that one.

Specializes in MedSurg/ER FLoat/Charge/LTC/Oncology.

I have a better one................working ER in Central Valley CA, woman came in at 230 AM with a 2 month old baby and said at the window "my baby doesn't recognize me, she's not looking at me enough"............this is a no sh**er.................I think the whole ER staff had blank stares (4 of us plus MD)

Ear wax

an elderly man arrived in a medical center I was working in and wanted his ears cleaned

Ok. Can't believe I'm going to admit this one.

I was on vacation last year in Florida. During our first night, we went swimming in the hotel pool (no earplugs) and I came out of the water unable to hear in one ear. I figured no biggie, needed to drain.

The next morning, it was still completely blocked. So, went to CVS, got some OTC medicine.

Next day, still no improvement. I called my gen. pract. doc back home, explained the situation. He suggested several things, and after 2 additional days of not being able to hear in that ear, called in a script for me in Florida.

So - no additional swimming, snorkling or other water activities, and the pressure in my ear sucked.

Fearing an ear infection, I went to the ER upon my arrival home. Diagnosis? You guessed it.

A HUGE ball of wax. :trout: I am an idiot. :lol2:

no you're not. same with me just last week in key west. went to cvs and got ear syringe and spent an hour over the sink. i wasn't stopping till i could hear again and thankfully it worked. thats an annoying feeling in your ear.

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